Jon Stewart Ditches the Jokes for a Powerful Monologue on Charleston

"This is a terrorist attack. There's no nuance here."

The murders of nine people at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina reminded Americans that mass violence continues to plague the country. "I've had to make statements like this too many times," Obama said in his statement Thursday afternoon. "Communities have had to endure tragedies like this too many times." And on last night's Daily Show, Jon Stewart was so incensed by the events that he skipped the jokes altogether.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

"I have one job, and it's a pretty simple job. I come in in the morning, and we look at the news, and I write jokes about it," he said. "But I didn't do my job today, so I apologize. I got nothing for you in terms of, like, jokes and sounds, because of what happened in South Carolina."

Stewart gave a serious and somber monologue about "the disparity of response" when we compare the threat of Islamic terror to the attacks that come from American citizens. "This is a terrorist attack. This is a violent attack on Emanuel church in South Carolina, which is a symbol for the black community," he said. "I hate to even use this pun, but this is black and white. There's no nuance here."

Most Popular

And the real culprit, Stewart said, is the corrosive culture of racism in America, especially in the South. "We are steeped in that culture in this country, and we refuse to recognize it," he said. "The Confederate flag flies over South Carolina, and the roads are named for Confederate generals. And the white guy's the one who feels like his country's been taken from him."

Stewart said that in the end, we need to view these attacks just as seriously as ones from foreign enemies. "Al-Qaeda, all those guys, ISIS, they're not shit compared to the damage we can apparently do to ourselves on a regular basis."